Publications

05 Jul 2023
HBS Case

What Kind of Leader Are You? How Three Action Orientations Can Help You Meet the Moment

Ron Johnson as chief executive officer of JCPenney. Johnson joined from Target and previously worked for Apple, where he’s credited with developing the Apple Store concept. “The trap is when you rely too... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

22 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution

to survival, but it's extremely difficult to do. With change constantly surrounding us, employees often do not know where to look or how to respond. I will consider the techniques that companies such as Johnson & View Details

Keywords: by Robert Simons

17 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

‘Not a Bunch of Weirdos’: Why Mainstream Investors Buy Crypto

emerging market. A study of 59 million US consumers Di Maggio, the Ogunlesi Family Associate Professor of Business Administration at HBS, collaborated on the research with Darren Aiello, Jason Kotter, and Mark J. Johnson of Brigham Young... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

12 Dec 2005
Research & Ideas

Using the Law to Strategic Advantage

out as being more legally astute than others. These include Johnson & Johnson, Intel, PepsiCo, and eBay. When Johnson & Johnson was faced with the cyanide-tainted... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Legal Services

20 Dec 2022
Op-Ed

Employee Feedback: The Key to Retention During the Great Resignation

substantially different attrition rates among competitors. Companies with healthy, high-commitment, high-performance cultures—such as Southwest Airlines, Johnson & Johnson, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car—have had comparatively less... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Beer

April 2018 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Maersk: Betting on Blockchain

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson

In March 2018, international shipping giant Maersk is getting ready to debut a trade digitization platform. Maersk hopes the platform will help streamline global trade since shipping goods internationally is an extraordinarily complicated and inefficient process.... View Details

Keywords: Maersk; IBM; Blockchain; Shipping; Shipping Line; Trade; Bitcoin; Digitization; Container Shipping; Joint Ventures; Ship Transportation; Transportation Networks; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Applications and Software; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry

26 Apr 2022
Book

What Does Your Business Stand For? Why Building Trust Starts with Purpose

that empowerment and collaboration are not just aspirations but achieved reality. Purpose goes from being a slogan to a set of lived principles. In the video below, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson explains the enormous challenge he faced in... View Details

Keywords: by Ranjay Gulati

November 2018 (Revised April 2019)
Case

Nike: Changing the Sneakers Game

By: Anita Elberse, Bryce Aiken and Howard Johnson

“Our goal is to be the kind of start-up that would terrify Nike—if Nike didn’t already own us.” Ron Faris, general manager of S23NYC, a Manhattan-based digital studio owned by sports apparel giant Nike, is on the phone with Adam Sussman, Nike’s chief digital officer.... View Details

Keywords: Digital Technology; Apparel; Fashion; Superstar; Innovation; General Management; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Management; Sports; Entertainment; Digital Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry

June 2011 (Revised May 2012)
Case

L'Oréal: Global Brand, Local Knowledge

By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Ryan Johnson

Worldwide, and in the U.S. marketplace in particular, the French cachet of L'Oréal was one of its most powerful marketing tools. However, with the opening up of emerging markets, L'Oréal had to cater to a diverse customer base: an aging population in the West, ethnic... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Change Management; Sales; Emerging Markets; Segmentation; Innovation and Invention; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; France; United States

March 2024
Article

Do Safety Management System Standards Indicate Safer Operations? Evidence from the OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Standard

By: Kala Viswanathan, Matthew S. Johnson and Michael W. Toffel

Problem definition: Given the enormous disruptions and costs of occupational injuries, companies and buyers are increasingly looking to voluntary occupational health and safety standards to improve worker safety. Yet because these standards only require... View Details

Keywords: Occupational Health; Occupational Safety; Program Evaluation; Safety Performance; Injuries; OHSAS 18001; ISO 45001; Working Conditions; Safety; Standards

Read Now

19 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Birth of the American Salesman

century still rely on them today, and for similar purposes. Some of the largest sales forces among manufacturing companies are in the field of beverages, including Pepsico and Coca-Cola, and pharmaceuticals, including Johnson &... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Linard

1987
Book

Relevance Lost: The Rise and Fall of Management Accounting

By: Robert S. Kaplan and H. Thomas Johnson

Keywords: Accounting; Management

Find at Harvard

04 Sep 2013
What Do You Think?

How Relevant is Long-Range Strategic Planning?

said, ''by strategy task forces that 'hack' rather than as part of a long annual strategic planning process." Gary Johnson put it this way: "Competitive advantage and a business without strategy-one that is in constant... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

29 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

Why Do Outlet Stores Exist?

pricing actually communicates information about the quality of the item, causing customers to be much more likely to buy a $300 shirt sold for $200 than a shirt listed regularly for $200. (It's what former JC Penney CEO Ron Johnson found... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion; Retail

01 Mar 2023
What Do You Think?

How Much Does 'Deep Purpose' Matter to the Bottom Line?

Practitioners like former Johnson & Johnson CEO James Burke endorsed it, academics like Edgar Schein of MIT gave it a more definitive definition, and several of us put a value on it. Since then, the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

November 2017
Case

The Digital Factory – Siemens: Electronic Works Amberg

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott F. Johnson

The Electronic Works Amberg (EWA) was Siemens' most advanced factory. The plant built industrial automation equipment using state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques. Siemens was considering creating a consulting business for its manufacturing clients. Given the EWA's... View Details

Keywords: Siemens; Internet Of Things; Industrie 4.0; Manufacturing; Consulting; Digital Factory; Ewa; Amberg; Electronic Works Amberg; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Internet and the Web; Production; Manufacturing Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Technology Industry; Germany